Tina's Dynamic Homeschool Plus

Activity, Change, Progress

Geography

DIY Atlas – North Star Highschool Geography

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I had to give you a sneak peek at the progress on the diy atlas cover that the boys designed as we use North Star Geography. Too, look at my page Homeschool Geography for hands-on and simple ideas and tips.

I love the progress the boys have made on their atlas cover.  

Between getting ready for our big moving sale today and cleaning out their closets, they still have managed to come up with a design unique to their age.  I thought too that they would be finished by now, but what do I know? 

They assure me you can’t rush perfection and because they are taking this quite seriously, they are working on their geography masterpieces in shifts.

DIY Atlas Cover Homeschool Geography

DIY Atlas – North Star Highschool Geography

I like the fact too that the ideas they have come up with so far shows their ages and perspective on the world in general. 

My oldest has a slight bent toward architecture that I didn’t even realize until this project.  He chose a concept that may be more science fiction right now which is arcology, but I think it is way cool.  He sure likes it.  He still has more picture to add to it and then of course he can’t decide his lettering or title.

The bottom half of the picture shows Tiny’s idea of geography which is still relative to where he lives.  So though he thinks somewhat globally by showing the world first, it all still comes down to where he lives or about him.

And then one more thing I have to tell you and that is yippee I am so excited because North Star Geography is finally released and ready for pre-orders.

Front Cover Highschool Geography North Star Geography Ready

We have done a couple of other hands-on projects that I have to show you next.

Also look at these other high school resources.

Homeschool High School Geography Resources and Books

Geography for high school should still be fun and hands-on. It can take years to find the right resources. However, I’ve gathered up some of my favorite books and resources.

What do you think? Are you going to be using this with your kids this summer or next year?

More High School Geography Curriculum Resources

Read the other posts about this wonderful new geography program!

DIY Atlas - North Star Highschool Geography
The Anatomy of a Well Laid Out High School Geography Curriculum
DIY Atlas - North Star Highschool Geography
Homeschool Geography Go-To Resources
DIY Atlas - North Star Highschool Geography
Homeschool High School World Geography Program
DIY Atlas - North Star Highschool Geography
Homemade Compass – Simple Geography Project With a Wow Factor
DIY Atlas - North Star Highschool Geography
Homeschool Geography – DIY Lava Lamp

Homeschool High School World Geography Program

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Be still my beating heart. A new homeschool high school world geography program is soon to be released and I am so giddy about it that I couldn’t wait to tell you.

You know I have been quiet about what Mr. Awesome has been doing this year mostly because he has been working his sweet little behind off on his high school courses.  I have more to say on that in another post.

But, the other reason is that I have been keeping a secret from you because we have been waiting for a new geography program by Bright Ideas Press called North Star Geography.

Homeschool High School World Geography

We are both about to squeal because I just got the heads up yesterday that it is real close to being published.  Before I go any further too, I want you to know that there is no link on their site yet to give you.   Like I said, it’s new and not available yet.  And there are just very few bloggers who know about this today.  So you are getting all of this early.

But do check out their site, because they have lot of other resources that make learning about geography and history fun and they believe in hands-on.  The product link for North Star Geography will be coming soon.

You know I told you that Mr. Awesome, unlike Mr. Senior 2013, has a low tolerance for textbooks and even less tolerance for worksheets.  He is my child that made me move beyond my comfortable teaching zone because he learns best by hands-on and visual aids.

So when I heard that Bright Ideas Press was coming out with North Star Geography, I jumped at the chance to use it and review it.

Today, I am giving you a heads up about it and sharing the juicy tidbits I do know.

Too, some of this may change since it’s not published yet, but I wanted to give you some details now.  I just can’t wait!

  • This is a world geography course, worth a full high school credit.
  • It can be used for your Junior high school student, but if you use it with younger children, you will probably need to tweak it.  I always say though it’s easier to tweak down than it is to adjust up for your highschooler.  The lessons start out easy, but get more detailed by Unit 2.
  • There are 16 lessons covering both physical and human geography. That is the part I like.  Geography is not just about finding latitude and longitude which may put me to sleep, but it’s about interacting with the culture and understanding the people.
  • The program includes the Student Reader and the Companion Guide which includes:  Daily schedule grids, hands-on activity directions, map work, note-taking pages, reproducible maps and graphic organizers, quizzes and tests, research questions, memorization lists, answer keys, and grading rubrics.

If you have been homeschooling any length of time, you know that resources for this age that are hands-on and interactive are not plentiful.  Matter of fact they are almost non-existent.  So I can’t wait to get started on it.

By the way you will want to use WonderMaps with the North Star Geography program.  You can get WonderMaps now.  I am getting the maps today.
When I get more information and get the complete curriculum in my little grubby hands, I will be sharing about it as we use it this year and into next year.

Have you been looking for a hands-on geography program that is not boring to use with your kids?  What are your favorites?

South America Geography Salt Dough Map + Printable Pennants

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Tiny never gets his fill of doing something fun and hands-on when we start  a geography unit. We did a salt dough map in our Arctic & Inuit Unit Study and he remembered and ask for it again to start our South America Unit Study. Too, look at my page Homeschool Geography for hands-on and simple ideas and tips.

Why mess with something working? Besides after you make it, you can use it again and again as review during the unit study. It’s so much more fascinating and interactive than a worksheet too.

Before I forget though I want to update the salt dough recipe I had used before because it was wayyy too much. So I cut it in half this time and still had plenty left over.

We tend to use left over pizza box lids as our platform and unless you are going to make your salt dough map giganto, you should be fine with this new recipe. Of course, you can double it if you need more.

South America Geography Salt Dough Map + Printable Pennants

So here is the update recipe for you which is all the ingredients cut in half. If you want to see how we create it, look at my post on the Arctic & Inuit Unit Study.

South America Geography Salt Dough Map + Printable Pennants


Also, a really good map is needed and we had a big map that pulled out of the center of our atlas. This was really way more helpful than just printing one off the internet.

South America Geography Salt Dough Map + Printable Pennants

Since we are working on identifying more of the landforms, we wanted to draw those in and so Tiny use the most complicated tools

South America Geography Salt Dough Map + Printable Pennants
South America Geography Salt Dough Map + Printable Pennants

—like a toothpick and plastic clay roller —to draw in the political boundaries of each country.  Simple I am telling you, so simple to keep it fun.

Remember you have to draw in your land forms and place a toothpick in the holes before it dries overnight.

South America Geography Salt Dough Map + Printable Pennants

We also took time to look at the Amazon and some of it’s tributaries and used the toothpick to draw it going through Brazil (top right) and he formed the Galapagos Islands on the left side.

Tiny only put one island there though there are many islands that Charles Darwin investigated. Of course this is why it’s important that he learn to use the map to see that the Galapagos are made up of many islands and not just one.

Then next we went about locating the Andes mountain range.

South America Geography Salt Dough Map + Printable Pennants

He had the idea of forming little peaks or mountains down the left side to show the stretch of the Andes mountains.  I think they turned out so cute, but he was disappointed. Tiny is like Mr. Senior 2013, he has a high standard for his work and expects perfection. I just expect fun.

Of course after he painted the peaks brown they did look like chocolate kisses which gave me another idea.  This map could be made out of sugar cookie dough and use chocolate Hershey kisses for the mountains. Use frosting to decorate each country and make this edible.

South America Geography Salt Dough Map + Printable Pennants

Then because we are working on identifying/locating all the countries and one French territory, and Galapagos Islands, I created some country flags or pennants. Not only that, but by him painting each country a separate color, it really has helped to identify each one, which is another objective of mine.

South America Geography Salt Dough Map + Printable Pennants

Lastly, he labeled it and added in the equator and showed it running through Ecuador, which in Spanish means “equator”. We still need to add in the Tropic of Capricorn.

South America Geography Salt Dough Map + Printable Pennants

Tiny has loved doing these maps each time and it is a great way to bring geography and history alive. I guess you can say we never tire of hands-on geography and fun sets the tone for learning.

More to come as we trek our way through South America.

South America Printable Minibooks

Also, look at these minibooks which come in the free South America lapbook 27 page download.

  • Animals of the Galapagos fan book which includes the Giant Tortoise, Lava Lizard, Marine Iguana, Green Turtle, Galapagos Penguins, Magnificent Frigate Bird, Blue-Footed Booby, and Blue-Banded Goby.
  • Comparing Mountain Climate Zones
  • Simon Bolivar Copywork
  • Map of South America to label and one labeled
  • Machu Picchu – Lost City of the Inca
  • Negrinho – A dessert from Brazil
  • How to Memorize the Countries of South America and Dependent
  • Map Flags to put on your salt dough map
  • 2 – The Galapagos Island layered book. One prefilled with facts and one blank to add your own information.
  • Vocabulary Pocket and Vocabulary Words

More South America Unit Study Resources

How to Get the Free South America Printable Lapbook

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Ocean Currents and The Galapagos1

6 Homeschool Hotties

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6 Homeschool Hotties 6.1.2013

I want to share some homeschool hotties with you today because I can’t really call them my faves because I have been only eye balling some of them.

I call them hotties because right away I liked them.  Some of these hotties are free, others are not, but they are random things. I want to try them out during the summer or pull the trigger on buying some of them.

1.  Holt, Rinehart & Wilson has a neat free geography page that we have been clicking and playing with off/on.  After you go to the site, pick a book. Then when you get it, choose a chapter.  I like it because it has several interactive things per chapter. The boys can click through it and do on their own. We love geography and I like it better when they have something they can use without me. I think this is a great fit for summer learning or to add to our curriculum.

Click here to go there.

2.   Collecting graphic novels is part of an ongoing process when you have boys. When I started teaching Mr. Senior 2013 to read, I thought graphic novels would hamper his ability to create pictures in his mind.  I had read a book on classical learning and thought it would be “bad” for him. I know now, it is just the opposite. When a child, especially a boy is struggling to read, graphic novels beats anything I tried hands down.  Mr. Senior 2013 didn’t struggle, he just enjoyed them. However, when I got to Mr. Awesome I thought he struggled. I know now, he wasn’t ready and it would take a bit more bait to hook him.  By this time, I already had graphic novels and they were a life saver.  I do worry about the messages in comic books. So I found out later about Golden Age DC and Silver Age. These are old comics and the message in these comics is more about doing what is right instead of the politically correct tone books can take nowadays. These books are hardbound and were born in 1938.

Golden Age DC

Look here at what I mean by Golden Age DC.

I think we are finally getting them this summer after we have tons I went through when I was teaching them all to read. Older comic books keeps reading interest level high for all my boys and not to mention they are just plain fun to read which is what reading should be about.

When a child is struggling to read sometimes it’s because he doesn’t create a movie picture in his mind like other readers naturally do. A comic book helps him to do that. The other nifty thing about comic books is that most all boys want to read them independently instead of having them read to them. This helps them on the road to independent reading.

Though I was careful and still am in looking over their reading material,  I wish I would have known about older comic books earlier. Now you know.

Look here at the Silver Age.

3.  This next hottie is so cool. It’s like going on a field trip without ever leaving your house. I could think of so many ways to use this. It is a secret door and something fun provided by Safe Style UK.  I couldn’t stand the excitement when I found it and we have been clicking and going through the door a lot. Each time you go through the door you are transported to a different place. At the top left side it gives you the address or location of where you were transported. Oh, the things we have talked about. This could be geography or you could use this to start your creative journal writing for the day. We have been traveling all over the place.

Click on the door below to go through and have fun!

The Secret Door

The Secret Door is presented by Safestyle UK

Be sure you monitor your kids since this is new and you never know if something fun could go borderline questionable.

 

4.  Selecting the courses for Mr. Awesome for high school will be slightly different than the ones I chose for Mr. Senior 2013 because he learns differently. Mr. Awesome has a live and let live spirit that I like to foster.   Mr. Senior 2013 was easier to teach because he liked to sit down at the little neat organized desk. Mr. Awesome can learn anywhere, but also loves to choose more out of the box methods. We need both types of learners and leaders in our homeschool community so I never want to crush any learning style.

This next item I think will fit the bill to learn creatively. It is Marie’s Words – Visual Vocabulary for All Ages. I have been drooling over it for a while. You know how much I loved the visual vocabulary that I reviewed for Tiny. This is something that can be used for my big guy and I think really for the whole family.

Maries Word Collage

antithesisantithesis marie words definition

Here is what it says from Timberdoodle’s site:

550 Vocabulary Words Gleaned From the SAT
Just as a logo is a visual representation of a company, Marie’s Words utilizes colorful illustrations to create a “face” for each of the 550 vocabulary words gleaned from the SAT® test and literature. While some of the illustrations are not immediately apparent, once understood, each drawing will aid in mastering the definitions of these words and is a natural augmentation to your child’s study of word roots.

I think it would be fun to add this to his written vocabulary work and to have it as a great way for all of us to enrich our word usage.

5.  This next app which is FREE,  we are going to download to our dad’s  iPad. My hubby uses the iPad a lot for work, but we get to use it in between which is a lot.

Pocket Penguins

By California Academy of Sciences

penguins cam

From the website:
Description

Warning: Cute alert! Pocket Penguins, streaming in real-time from the California Academy of Sciences, provides an intimate view into our live African penguin exhibit. Watch the birds swim, dive, flirt, nest and relax from any one of three live webcams. Listen in as Academy biologists answer questions from visitors during meal time, daily at 10:30am and 3:00pm PST.

It says it works for iPhone too. So cute, pocket penguins!

Click here to get it.

6. This last thing I been looking at is a free font for those with dyslexia. Though I don’t have any kids that have it, I have helped numerous moms with kids that are dyslexic and moms who are too.  So I have been keeping this to share with you or for you to share with ones that you think may find it helpful. I think it’s time to recognize that dyslexic adults and children alike can learn well and we need accommodate their need to have fonts that help them read better.  My experience is that they are just as smart if not more so in some areas. They just learn creatively.

opendyslexicglyphs

 

Here is what it says:

OpenDyslexic is a new open sourced font created to increase readability for readers with dyslexia. The typeface includes regular, bold, italic, and bold-italic styles. It is being updated continually and improved based on input from dyslexic users. There are no restrictions on using OpenDyslexic outside of attribution.

Click here to go there.

Grab and share some Homeschool Hotties today.

Hugs and love ya,

Mini Unit Study Of Turkey For Kids | Free Country Report

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I have a mini unit study about Turkey. Too, look at my page Homeschool Geography for hands-on and simple ideas and tips.

Did you guess which country my boys chose at the Geography Quest?

Yep it was Turkey. To be honest, I was a tad shocked but happy at the same time that they chose that country. You’ll love these ideas for a mini unit study about Turkey.

Mini Unit Study Of Turkey For Kids | Free Country Report

My oldest son, Mr. Senior 2013, got the final say on country choice since this is his last year to school {sniffle}.

Somewhere along your homeschool journey you wonder if “too much history” is too much. {mmmm does that sense?} You pray most of what you teach your sons sticks with them.

When he chose to talk about Istanbul, formerly Constantinople, and write his essay on it,  I was thrilled because of the rich history of the country.

Easy Homeschool Unit Study Turkey

Mini Unit Study Of Turkey For Kids | Free Country Report

It is absolutely fascinating to study about the beautiful buildings like the Hagia Sophia which still stand today, but also to learn of the diverse influence of the country.

One could spend a lengthy unit study just on the influence of Christians on Constantinople then the Muslim influence.

However, since this was our not back to school Geography Quest with our field  trip group, we had to condense it to about a week of study.

One small point to remember about planning and doing unit studies is that when a topic lends itself to one or more subjects easily than others, don’t force a fit.

If you can’t find a topic for one subject like science or art, focus to enrich the subject/s that your topic does naturally flow with and teach. 

Emphasis should be given to learning what interests you and your kids and it should be age appropriate.

Here are some of the topics we read about in our country mini unit study.

Mini Unit Study on the Country of Turkey

Mini homeschool unit study about the Country of Turkey | Tina's Dynamic Homeschool Plus

Science:  Tiny, my youngest son, chose to do a report about the cape hyrax. The biology of any country is a good topic for younger children.

The cape  hyrax, or rock rabbit is similar to a badger and he tied in the fact that the early colonist mistook this animal for a badger. He researched this topic on his own because that is what interested him.

Social Studies: He also wanted to show money from that country. It is important when doing a unit study about countries to point out that other money is not play money.

My husband went to the foreign exchange commission and got some Turkish money for us to take and share with the group.

Mini homeschool unit study about the Country of Turkey | Tina's Dynamic Homeschool Plus

My middle son, Mr. Awesome, who is my social creature had to read about a variety of topics and influence on the people.

Social Studies:  He explained about a Turkish bazaar or the Grand Bazaar in Istanbul. He was interested in the clothing, the fascinating way they still make carpets and rugs from ancient ways.

He just couldn’t wrap his mind around the fact that after Constantinople was invaded by the Ottoman Turks they started construction on the building that is still part of the Grand Bazaar. Spices, Turkish pipes {yes he had to view Turkish pipes} clothes, and weapons he had to investigate.

Country of Turkey Quick and Fun Unit Study at Tina's Dynamic Homeschool Plus

Along with that he had to talk about Turkish delight which is like a confection candy.

Having never been to Turkey, we can only imagine what true homemade Turkish delight tasted like.

My oldest soon started passing out Turkish delight, that we ordered from a place in Washington, to share with the group. I told you we ate our way through the countries.

Geography of Turkey

Bible/Physical Geography: Then we focused some on the physical geography of the country. Mount Ararat is the highest point in Turkey.

The Bible speaks in Genesis 8:4 about the ark coming to rest on Mount Ararat. So we had to discuss whether the ark was discovered or not.

Studying more about the physical geography, it leads one to wonder where exactly did the ark land and Noah unload the animals.

Also, this is not the only time Mount Ararat is spoken about in the Bible. The region is referred to in the book of 2 Kings too.

Mount Ararat is called by the Turks Aghri Dagh (Mount of the Ark) and by the Persians Koh-i-nuh (Noah’s Mountain). It led to quite the discussion with all of the kids.

Of course then you have to discuss that both the Tigris and Euphrates rivers in the Bible are major rivers in Turkey.

We could hardly leave the Bible part topic because Asia Minor in the Bible is mostly Turkey and that opens up all the discussions of the lives of the early Christians.

Phew…..you see why I was thrilled when he first chose it but wondering uhmmm how to do this in one week.

There was more discussion about the physical geography of the country because Istanbul is the only major city that straddles both the Europe and Asian continents.

Was that an advantage or disadvantage in fighting wars?

Turkey Co-op Ideas for learning about the country at Tina's Dynamic Homeschool Plus

Then Mr. Senior 2013 wanted to focus on the history of not just the whole country but on Istanbul. Remember  I had mentioned how a unit study is like a funnel, and you want to narrow down to the subtopic that interests your family.

Country of Turkey Homeschool Unit Study

Ancient History/Art: Before he spent time talking on Istanbul, he started off with the story of the Trojan war. He showed how part is made up, part true and some speculation that surrounds the city of Troy.

Then, he did point out that that area is now Turkey.

He moved quickly to focus on the Ottoman Turks conquering the city as well as talking about the Hagia Sophia. The Hagia Sophia is only one building among many that are full of the intricate Turkish artwork.

People coming from Europe called Turkey “Land of the Sunrise” and the early Christians called it “second holy land”.

Istanbul is also called “Crossroads of the World” because of the meeting of cultures there.

He studied about Alexander the Great, but didn’t present this to the group as that would have been “too much”. {Whoa back Mr. Senior 2013 there are small kids too at the Geography Quest}. He did mention Sultan Mehmed II because he was the conquering invader in Constantinople.

All of this led to a discussion about Islam as well with my older two sons. Tiny was looking at pictures of his rock rabbit because he wasn’t interested in this subject.

That is the beauty again of unit studies. Stay on them as long as your children’s appetite is being satisfied.

The youngest ones can stop. Their appetite is satisfied.

One thing I did notice was that there was not a lot of what I consider good resources on this unit study topic.

There were lots of books that told the history of Istanbul. Even after several visits to our library, the books barely mentioned this area that has thousands of years of history.

Books About Turkey the Country

11 Books About the Country of Turkey

Add these books to your reading day or to a unit study to learn about the fascinating country of Turkey.

Between my passport that Tiny showed to the group, the Turkish liras or money and passing out Turkish delight we got all of this in our mini unit study.

We had to save time to savor the other countries presented at the Geography Quest by the other families.

Some of the other kids wore hats that you would think come from France to the Mexican shirts worn by the boys.

We had a great time kicking off our school year and the last year for Mr. Senior 2013. {I may go into sappy mode}.

Mini Unit Study Of Turkey For Kids | Free Country Report

I hope these pages help you in your study about the countries.

We learned about Costa Rica, France, Ireland, Japan, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Romania and Turkey.

MORE TURKEY COUNTRY UNIT STUDY RESOURCES

These pages have a place to keep fast facts and then one part to do a mini report as you work your way through the countries. I do think we need to do this for another time or at least keep doing some more countries.

Country of Turkey Unit Study Resources

Naturally, we covered a variety of subjects and did not force a fit.

Too, I found these Turkish quotes.

So, when we ended this mini unit study we did copywork.

“Listen a hundred times; ponder a thousand times; speak once.”

A wise man remembers his friends at all times; a fool, only when he has need of them.”

“A lion sleeps in the heart of every brave man.”

A cup of coffee commits one to forty years of friendship.”

“Man is harder than iron, stronger than stone and more fragile than a rose.”

Quick and Fun Homeschool Unit Study about the Country of Turkey. You'll love it over at Tina's Dynamic Homeschool Plus. CLICK HERE!

MORE HOMESCHOOL GEOGRAPHY

HOW TO GET THE FREE TURKEY GEOGRAPHY COUNTRY REPORT

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